


Stuck Words

by Icie



Series: SASO 2015 Bonus Round fills [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, minor manga spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 18:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4232799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icie/pseuds/Icie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>i try to work up the nerve,</em><br/>hope to god i don't stutter<br/>my thrown-together letters<br/>never end up as words</p><p> </p><p>  <em>[...]</em></p><p> </p><p>  <em>uh oh, uh oh</em><br/>i get that feeling and i don't know, don't know<br/>how she keeps stealing all the air from my lungs<br/>and leaving all the words stuck on my tongue</p><p> </p><p>  <em>— junior doctor, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo5tpICO8No">uh oh</a>"</em></p><p> </p><p>Written for SASO 2015 BR1</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck Words

Painful as he finds it, Shigeru stays after Seijoh's defeat and watches the final match. He swallows and ignores the third years, none of them will matter next year and the second years will be everything.

A cheer goes up across the stands as Karasuno scores their first point. A line of four, two rows in front of Shigeru, look like they're about to take off from joy. He thinks he sees a mask around one of their necks, the guy probably shouldn't be doing that if he's sick.

Shigeru sinks lower in his chair.

Shiratorizawa takes the first set, to no one's surprise. Karasuno's fan club have deflated a little but the spunky lady with blonde hair is rallying the rest of them and-

Shigeru sits up again, leans forward. He missed her before but that's Karasuno's new manager with them. It's a row of five, not four. She's practically vibrating in her seat, still focused on the players even while the coaches are talking to them off court.

For the rest of the game, Shigeru splits his attention between her and the court.

She is an important part of Karasuno's team, right?

\----

The final point is scored and tears fly from both sides. Yahaba takes his leave, he was here to watch the players.

And if he does _happen_ to end up in the same place as Karasuno's tiny manager, it's definitely a coincidence.

He puts a tomato into his basket just to have something in there, as he watches her sniff an apple before she selects three more and sits them in her basket next to a leek.

_Are you going to make stew?_

\----

He raises a hand as they wind up face to face - in the feminine hygiene aisle. He hastily shoves the kind he thinks his sister uses in the basket and extracts himself from in front of her.

_Is this your usual supermarket?_

\----

She stands on the tip of her toes as she reaches her fingers up to wave under the top shelf, Shigeru steps forward just as a staff member passes by and nabs her item - dried mushrooms - off the shelf.

Shigeru sags.

_Can I get that for you?_

\----

In the aisle containing plastic cutlery, pieces of hose and a million other miscellaneous items, she crouches down in front of the lightbulbs. She picks up two and intently reads the label on each. Shigeru gets as far as opening his mouth to offer guidance before she selects one and returns the other to the shelf.

_That one is what we use at the inn… I think._

\----

When she sneezes and misses him calling over the woman behind the deli counter, he gives up. If he can't even open his mouth and say _good game_ they're not meant to even know each other's names.

He picks up a lollipop from beside the counter and checks out his mixed collection of items. A total of 1342 yen.

Outside, the edge of the sun dips below the buildings, he unwraps his lollipop and tucks it inside his cheek, slipping the wrapper into his pocket.

"Oh, you like watermelon, too?"


End file.
